So, I crawled, at first, along the stones and broken glass, numb, for the moment, trying to get my senseless legs under me. Tottering, I stumbled away from the castle and the warm light of her windows and into the welcoming dark of the evergreens, whose branching, nettled arms spread wide. The rain gathered and seeped and plunged through those creaking boughs, no light mist, but in great globules that struck from above with icy coldness. There was no shelter from these, and no dryness nor warmth I could seek. Over the mossy floor I ran, caring only to escape.
Psst! Hey kid, wanna buy a book?
